Philippines IP Office: Anti-Counterfeiting Meeting Isn't About Kowtowing To Corporate Interests... Except That It Is

from the that's-a-denial? dept

Earlier this year, the US government admitted that it was funding special programs in conjunction with WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization) to help push anti-counterfeiting enforcement efforts around the globe, despite tons of evidence that counterfeiting isn't a big problem, and actually is massively smaller than the industry makes it out to be. That US funding led directly to a secretive meeting in the Philippines, that was entirely one-sided, focusing solely on companies and their desire for greater enforcement against counterfeits.

Over the weekend, however, Cory Doctorow called WIPO out on this meeting, noting that it wasn't even on WIPO's website, and appeared to go against WIPO's own agenda concerning recognizing the "broader societal interests." This resulted in WIPO giving a weak defense of the event -- while also distancing itself from the event (saying it was only part of the first two days -- and the rest were from the Philippines government).

That, in turn, resulted in this somewhat hilarious attempt at a defense of the event from the Philippines IP Office. The IP Office first denies that this is a one-sided event designed to help big sponsoring companies... and then goes on to admit that's exactly what it was about in the very next sentence:

“Strictly speaking, the workshops sponsored by these corporations will, of course, teach our law enforcement officers how to act in the interest of those business entities,” observed Ricardo R. Blancaflor, Director General of Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). “However, it is also true that these brands are the most pirated in the country. They have lost a lot of profits due to piracy.”

Reader Comments

Drinking The Kool Aide

Ricardo R. Blancaflor is willfully ignorant about his own business. He has swallowed the line that piracy costs the companies profits, despite the fact that there is no actual evidence for that at all. He should know better. His statement reveals a crushing level of negligence. He is supposed to be working for the Philippines people, first last and always. If he wants to work for the US movie industry, then he should have the grace to resign. Why should Philippine taxpayers pay his salary when he is not serving their interests? He should be sacked.

Re:

"Why is it that it is only the industry that ever releases reports about how much they have lost?"

Because they're losing the control they once had and want the law to help them regain it. The way to do that, apparently, is to moan about how much they *could* have sold, if only it were still the 90s and they didn't have those pesky meddling "pirates".

"Why is it that the methodology is never transparent?"

Because most of the figures are based on extremely flawed methodologies, and every study that's been done independently debunks them completely. They can't come up with scary enough figures if they use a more accurate methodology, so they hide it instead.

"How much further are they willing to go to prop up business models at the expense of society?"

Greed is infinite. They'll prop those models up until they inevitably fail, then moan about "pirates" while they take the fortunes they gained at the expense of everybody else.

Trolls need focus

YES. Profits are lost due to piracy and counterfeiting. YES, that is a FACT. It's 100% TRUE.

Losing profits isn't the issue. The issue is the fabrication of how much "piracy" actually costs the industry. Claiming that "piracy" is doing so much harm that it requires new laws and enforcement is just insane.

Now that you know the actual issue, you may resume your trolling activities.